LET’S GET
TO THE TRUTH, SHALL WE? – Since this is supposed to be media column (though I
will be the first to admit that I do stray into other areas at time), there can
be little argument that the news we see and read greatly affects, informs, and
yes, even misinforms what we know about our world today.

Take last
week, for example. By all accounts, a horrendous, emotional week that
highlighted two controversial police shootings of black men, and tragically,
the assassination of five brave police officers in Dallas, Texas who were
protecting a demonstration and march against police violence.

America was
clearly not displaying its’ best face last week.

Now we had
controversial police killings of black men before, and sadly, we’ve also had
black suspects responsible for killing police officers. But what was very
different about last week is that these events literally happened, and were
headlined virtually one day after another, in effect causing all traditional
sides of the “race in America” argument recalibrate their traditional stances
almost be the moment.

That’s not
to say that anyone black with any sense wants to see police officers killed. Of
course not. Christian-centered leaders like Dr. Marin Luther King Jr. always warned us that “an eye for eye” is
nonproductive, and nothing good ever really comes out of violence.

And it’s also not to suggest that
just because you’re white and right-wing, you necessarily want to see black men
killed, though some, I’m sure, can make an argument that past conservative
pronouncements and public policy rarely expressed much love or concern for the
plight of African-American males, let alone black people in this country.

But listening to the punditry in
the aftermath of the deaths of Alton
Sterling in Baton Rouge, La., Philando
Castile in St. Paul, Minn., and the five Dallas officers mercilessly gunned
in that Texas city last Thursday evening, while much of the discussion in the
media was clearly restrained, and justifiably so as wisely requested by Pres. Obama in his reaction, there were
still those who felt the need to wage a war of words because as far as they
were concerned, the other side of “Americans” are the enemy, always have been
the enemy, and always will be the enemy, so let’s damn them every chance we
get.”

Here’s the problem…when I watched
MSNBC and CNN, I heard at least a balance of measured, reactionary voices from
both sides. Fox News, the “We hate Black
Lives Matters no mater what” cable network, some of the most vicious, evil
lies possible were spewing from people like conservative host Sean Hannity and
various guests.

But part of what troubled me
greatly was hearing from many in or close to the law enforcement community who
appeared on these channels. As in the past after a police killing of a black
citizen under suspicious circumstances, almost to a person, many of these representatives
were saying, “ Our job is to put our lives on the line to protect you, and your
job as citizens is to love and support us no matter what.” They go one to
collectively say, “ Yeah, yeah, once in a while one of us may screw-up. That’s
going to happen. But like former New York Rudy Giuliani says, black people need
us the police, or else they can learn to live without us and see how far they
last.”

You also have those who go so far
as to blame Pres. Obama for being anti-police just because he expresses sympathy
for the victims of police abuse, while at the same time support for good
policing. They also hate Obama for embracing the Black Lives Matter movement,
as certainly a Republican president would if one was in office right now.

So when I heard right-wingers doing
their best to force a further divide between the black community and the
police, and make it seem as if brave officers who leave their homes and
families every day to protect and serve are not appreciated, I knew
instinctively they were wrong.

Ever been to a National Night Out
event in the black community? Ever been to a block party in the black
community? How about a carnival or festival at a local park or recreation
center? Did you ever notice how many cops there were at each of these events, walking
around, saying hello to the people, sharing a laugh or having a neighbor fix a
plate of food for the officers?

Hard to share a slice of homemade
pound cake and Dixie Cup of Kool-Aid with a police officer who only stays in
his/her patrol car watching the festivities from up the block.

And what about community meetings
about crime in the neighborhood? Are the right-wingers on TV telling me that
there is no positive interaction between residents and police officers then?

And the one that has never left my
mind…the summer of July, 1997 just this week, when a young drug dealer fatally
shot a white Raleigh police detective in a Southeast Raleigh driveway, and then
drove away leaving the officer on the ground to die.

Raleigh police put on a manhunt
like none other, and they caught drug dealer and put him in prison. I covered
that story, and I’ll never forget authorities crediting the people of that
neighborhood for calling in valuable tips that led to his capture.

Those people detested that an
officer was killed, and they wanted to help all they could, and they did. I
have no doubt the black community would do the same thing today.

Yes, truth to told, most law
enforcement officers are decent individuals who have a firm dedication to
upholding the law and protecting the public. And, as I’ve indicated above, our
community does honor them, and thank them, and yea, appreciate them. We need
them. We have too many elderly people who need protection; too many young
people who deserve safe neighborhoods, and too many families that want to know
they will have good futures.

But what the right-wingers refuse
to get is when a 12-year-old black boy is shot to death by police in Ohio because
they didn’t take the time to determine he was playing with a plastic gun in an
open carry state, or a grown man is strangled to death by five officers on a
Staten Island street corner just because he was selling loose cigarettes, or a
young woman goes to Texas to start a job, is jailed, and days later is found
dead in her cell with little explaination…. and the legal system we’re all
supposed to obey does NOT punish any of these officers for these acts, making
them, in effect, above the law, then history tells us there is no justice.

And that is supposed to be
perfectly fine to some folks.

Tell you what…if we’re going to
have a dialogue about these age-old pressing problems in our nation, let’s have
an open, honest one, with all of the cards on the table. The black community
needs good, fully trained, honest cops on our streets. For the most part,
that’s what we get. But when we see what are supposed to be the good cops
covering, or making excuses for the bad ones, that sends a chill through all of
us regarding trust. When we see a criminal justice system literally offer
protections for bad cops that the average citizen could never get, that chill
becomes fear. And soon, many of us are afraid to allow our teenage kids out of
the house for fear that they too will become the next tragic national headline.

Make no mistake, our community does
not, and will not condone the ungodly, hateful and deadly actions of the lone
Dallas gunman who senselessly slaughtered five brave police officers who were
protecting the rights of demonstrators. And we certainly pray for their
families.

Those brave officers weren’t the
problem. But those who feel that they are above the law they are sworn to
enforce, and take innocent black lives in the process, with impunity, are. Until
our system of justice fairly deals with them, we will be seeing a lot more
tragedy on all sides, and Lord knows we ne no more.

Cash in
the Apple - honored as the Best Column Writing of 2006 by the National
Newspaper Publishers Association. Columnist Cash Michaels was also honored by
the NNPA for Best Feature Story Journalist of 2009, and was the recipient of the
Raleigh-Apex NAACP’s President’s Award for Media Excellence in Sept. 2011.

Until
next week, keep a smile on your face, GOD in your heart, and The Carolinian in
your life. Bye, bye.

-30-

BUTTERFIELD: “LONG,
HOT SUMMER”

WITHOUT GUN/POLICE
REFORMS

By Cash Michaels

Contributing Writer

In the wake
of the police killing of two black men - in Baton Rouge, La. and St. Paul, Min.
respectively - and the slaughter of five Dallas police officers by a lone,
deranged black gunman, North Carolina Congressman G. K. Butterfield [D-NC-1]
warned that Congress must immediately act to stem the tide of violence with
meaningful gun and police reforms.

“If we fail to act,
this will be a long hot summer,” Rep. Butterfield, chairman of the
Congressional Black Caucus, told reporters last Friday during a CBC press
conference.

Before Congress broke for the July 4th
recess, the issue was gun control in the aftermath of the tragic Orlando
nightclub massacre where 49 were killed a month ago this week. In fact, NC
Congresswoman Alma Adams [D-NC-12] held a June 30th tele-town hall
in Charlotte on what could be done to quell gun violence in the community.

House Democrats – including North Carolina
congresspeople Butterfield,Adams and
David Price [D-NC-4] - staged a dramatic 26-hour sit-in on the House floor,
demanding that House Speaker Paul Ryan and the Republican House majority at
least bring a bill to the floor that would enhance gun owner background checks,
disallow people on the No Fly list from purchasing guns, and limit the sale of
assault weapons like the AR-15.

"I do not believe [gun legislation] is the answer," Rep. Pete
Sessions [R-Texas] of Dallas, maintained.

Based on tentative press reports,
there were indications that Speaker Ryan told members of the GOP Caucus that he
would be willing to have a bill to keep guns from suspected terrorists reach the floor for a vote after the recess,
but when Congress reconvened last week, no bill was forthcoming, outraging
Democrats.

And when the police killings in
Baton Rouge and St. Paul occurred, culminating in the police slayings in
Dallas, House Democrats, and specifically members of the Congressional Black
Caucus, soon realized that pushing for gun reform was not enough.

“We’re hearing frustration not only
from the law enforcement community, but the African-American community and
other communities all across the country,” Rep. Butterfield told MSNBC Monday.
“It’s pouring in everyday from the American people who want action on gun
violence. They’re demanding that we, as members of Congress, legislate to make
sure that thoe who are not capable of flying [on] an airplane because they’re
on a no-fly list that they are disqualified from owning a weapon.
Ninety-percent of the American people believe that there should be background
checks before you can purchase a firearm.”

Rep. Butterfield continued, “ The
American people are peaking very loudly so we need a hearing here in Congress
on gun violence that we need legislative action, and we need it now. Anxiety
and fear is gripping the nation, so we need a legislative response and we need
it now!”

Addressing the growing concerns that
relations between the African-American community and law enforcement have
become increasingly worse since the recent police shootings and nationwide
protests, Rep. Butterfield said that Congress does have a role in lowering the
temperature.

“The statistics are clear – of all
of the unarmed men shot by police in this country , at least last year, 40%
were African-American, even though black men make up only 6% of the nation’s
population. So the data is clear – African-Americans are two-and-a-half time
more likely to be killed by police than other Americans.

“We must immediately stop what we’re
doing here in Congress and appropriate money for law enforcement agencies
across the country so that they can train and retrain their officers, so they
can separate the good ones from the bad ones, and get to the concept of
community policing, thereby creating this bond of trust between the community
and law enforcement,” Butterfield said Monday. “Until we do thatwe’re going to continue to have unrest in our
communities, and we are better than that.”

Congress goes on a seven-week recess
one day early today, combining the traditional two-weeks off for the two
national political conventions, and taking off the month of August. When
Congress returns at the beginning of September, it will only convene only for a
brief period, and then recess again allowing members to return to their
districts to tend to their November re-election campaigns.

According to The Hill.com, “After
delaying a vote on a gun control bill this week, GOP leaders told rank-and-file
members they plan to adjourn for the long summer recess beginning Thursday, a
day earlier than expected.”

The
Hill.com continued, “The
measure currently lacks the votes to pass given divisions among Republicans and
widespread Democratic opposition.”

-30-

RALEIGH, OTHER NC CITIES

VALUE COMMUNITY
POLICING

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

Earlier
this week, a tired, weary Dallas Police Chief David Brown, admittedly still
heartbroken over the murders of four of his department’s officers, and one
Dallas Area Rapid Transit officer during a shooting rampage July 7th
by a crazed gunman, still wanted the world to know that despite what had
happened, by all accounts, he led the “best police department in the nation.”

Chief Brown
had solid numbers to back him up – the murder rate in Dallas dropped way down
under his tenure, as did civilian complaints against Dallas police officers.
The entire community was supportive of DPD, and the force was well-known and
regarded for its extensive community outreach, particularly in poor
neighborhoods like the one Chief Brown grew up in.

“Community
policing,” a concept dating back to the 1800’s where law enforcement routinely
interacts with the communities they serve not just to stop or solve crimes, but
also enhance the quality of living, is generally seen as key to help building
strong police –neighborhood relationships, and ultimately improve public safety.

Here in
North Carolina, many of the state’s major city police departments apparently
share Chief Brown’s view about community policing.

Early
Monday morning, The Carolinian sent requests to the police departments in
Raleigh, Durham, Wilmington and Winston –Salem asking two questions:

1 - What ongoing programs or policies does
your department have that are geared towards improving police relations with
the black community?

2
- What percentage of your police force is black, and what measures are your
department taking to improve recruitment?

By press time Wednesday, the Durham
Police Dept. had not responded at all to our written request. Chief Barry
Rountree of Winston-Salem consented to an interview, and Jim Sughrue, Public
Information Officer with the Raleigh Police Dept. also responded.

Linda Rawley, Public Affairs
Officer for the Wilmington Police Department also provided important information
about her agency.

“Every district has a community policing
element that focuses its work on interacting with community members and
addressing their issues,” said Sughrue of the RPD, noting that the Southeast
District has two. “[Police] Districts conduct efforts designed to reach the
community on an ongoing basis, like the “Coffee with a Cop” program. And the
districts host special events for youths and adults through their community
policing squads.”

Indeed,
Raleigh’s current police chief, Cassandra Deck-Brown, a black woman, rose to
the top after spending many years in community outreach, attending meetings and
events, problem-solving and working with both young people and the elderly. So
when Raleigh experienced a controversial police shooting last February, it was
Chief Deck-Brown the community trusted in, because she took the time to build
relationships, to determine the truth.

On Monday,
Chief Deck-Brown attended several prayer vigils, where she was questioned
vigorously, but also warmly received. She told audiences that she believes in
accountability for her department.

“We consider
proper conduct of our personnel to be both the foundation of a strong community
relationship and a strict requirement, and we expect every officer to play a role
in continually building the trust and the relationship between the department
and the community he or she serves,” says Sughrue.

“Chief
Deck-Brown has focused recruiters and resources on minorities and women,” he
continued. “Probably most notable in that regard are the closer connections
that have been developed with HBCUs, including campus informational and
recruiting visits and the forging of deeper ongoing relationships with
professors and the institutions themselves.”

Per recent
numbers, Black females comprise only 1.84% of sworn officers, while Black males
make up only 8.8%. White females ate 7.88, but white male are a whopping 75.95%
of the Raleigh Police force.

Other aspects
of the RPD’s community outreach include a plethora of youth oriented programs,
working, with the 19 Citizen Advisory Councils, and a series of “Face-to-Face” community
meetings with Chief Deck – Brown., among other activities.

In recent
years, the Wilmington Police Dept. has seen its share of police shooting
controversies, causing friction between the WPD and the black community there.

But according
to Linda Rawley, WPD’s PIO, the department still invests in community outreach
so that can be communication between the two sides.

According to
Ms. Rawley, “Our
officers receive 8 hours of State mandatory Minority Sensitivity Training each
year as well as a number of de-escalation trainings.”

Rawley continued, “We are currently participating in a series
of Community Dialogue sessions throughout NHC with the Sheriff’s Department and
talking with residents in area neighborhoods about police relations. We have
had 9 sessions thus far. The next meeting is scheduled for Houston Moore. UNCW
facilitates these sessions.”

The WPD has a “diverse and expansive” PAL program - Police
Activities League that provides athletic programs for youth in our inner city.
The “Know Your Rights program was created in 2014 to provide information to
citizens on what to do when stopped by an officer and how to file a complaint. The
Citizen Review Team is made up of key community volunteers who share
recommendations and give input to Chief Evangelous throughout the year. The WPD
Citizens Police Academy is offered throughout the year to educate residents on
police policies and practices.

“We are currently working to register for the DOJ Implicit
Bias Training and hope to bring that to Wilmington in 2017,” Ms. Rawley added.

In term of African-American recruitment, WPD’s Ms. Rawley says,
“11% of our force is black. In an effort to recruit qualified applicants who
reflect the service population, members of the Professional Development Unit
attended 17 recruiting events for the calendar year of 2015. The venues
attended included; State Colleges, HBCUs and Universities, Military
Installations, and local events. Development staff interacted with more
than 148 individuals at recruiting events.”

In Winston
Salem, community policing is also seen as an asset.

Headed by Chief
Barry D. Rountree, the WSPD is a force of approximately 570 sworn officers. The
WSPD’s community policing effort, headed by the Community Resources Unit,
boasts of such programs as Police Explorers, the Citizens’ Police Academy, and
of course, Crime Prevention, and NeighborhoodWatch

In its most
recent newsletter, the Community Relations Division of the Winston-Salem Police
Dept. featured a front-page message from Chief Rountree talking about the
Winston-Salem Police Foundation, a charitable, independent 501 (c) nonprofit
organization, and how it will “…secure financial resources the police need to
strengthen community partnerships through mentoring, community outreach and
police athletic leagues.”

“It is
important to invest in community relations, but that goes both ways,” Chief
Rountree, an African-American, saidin
an interview Tuesday. “As far as the police department is concerned, it works
well because it shows the community that we are willing to work with the
public, and have a good relationship.”

“Everything
that we do it takes community cooperation. And by forging those relationships,
and reaching out, it works better for us when there is a crisis or when we need
information about a crime, or whatever it may be.”

“It just makes
the community a better place for everybody – police officers and citizens,”
Chief Rountree said.

Rountree has
been police chief for three years, but a police officer for 29 years. He says
the force has a “pretty good” relationship with the African-American community,
which unofficially stands around 12 percent. One of the areas he has been
working to improve is recruiting more blacks to the force, and the department
has employed a number of outreach efforts to do that through churches, etc.

It’s when
tragic events like the police shootings in Baton Rouge and St. Paul take place,
that Rountree feels some citizens take it out on his officers, even though they
obviously had no part in those incidents. That needs to be addressed, and a
greater bond of trust must be developed between all sides.

“We all have to
come together to sit down and understand what the issues are, without assuming
what they are,” Chief Rountree said. “We can do a better job of educating the
public, reaching out, and working with the public.”

-30-

STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 7-14-16

NBA COMMISSIONER
WARNS HB 2 LAW MUST BE REPEALED OR NO ALL-STAR GAME

[LAS VEGAS,
NV.]With the Feb. 17th NBA
All-Star game just around the corner, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver made it
clear this week that even though Charlotte is slated to be awarded the $100
million event, that won’t happen unless the controversial House bill 2 that
retricts transgender peopleto use the
restrooms only based on the gender of their birth certificate is repealed.
Silver said the law is “very inconsistent with our values.” The legislature
declined to repeal HB2 during the recent short session, which ended recently.

STUDY SHOWS ASSAULTS
AGAINST POLICE IN NC RARE

[GREENSBORO]According to the State Bureau of
Investigation, statistics show that in North Carolina, not only are assaults
against law enforcement rare, but have dropped over the past decade, even
though the number of officers has increased. In that state’s top five areas
according to the SBI -Charlotte,
Raleigh, Winston-Salem, Wilmington and Cumberland County - assaults on law enforcement are limited to
hands and feet, rarely guns or other weapons.

COOPER IS NOT HAPPY
WITH NEW POLICE BODY CAM LAW

On Monday,
Gov. Pat McCrory signed into law a restrictive law governing footage from
police body cameras and dash cameras, making it public only by Superior Court
order. McCrory’s opponent for reelection, State Attorney General Roy Cooper,
disagrees with the law, saying that the
video should be considered public, unless there are special circumstances why
it shouldn’t be. Republicans rejected amendments to make it so. The law takes
hold Oct. 1st.

-30-

TRIANGLE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 7-13-16

BLOODS AND CRIPS GANG
DECLARE “TRUCE IN SOUTHEAST RALEIGH

Two deadly
rival gangs marched together on Quarry Street in Southeast Raleigh Monday night
proclaiming that they have declared a truce with one another. Red bandanas and
blue bandanas, symbols of the Bloods and Crips respectively, were held high in
the air as community residents, and even personages like Raleigh Police Chief
Cassandra Deck-Brown and District Court Judge Vince Rozier, came to see for
themselves. Activist Rev. Diana Powell help to bring the two sides together in
peace, in hopes that young people in the community would see that Bloods and
Crips were killing each other no more.

STATE VOTER ID TRIAL
BEGINS SEPT. 26TH

[RALEIGH] While
the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals continues to mull over the federal case
involving voter ID, a long awaited state voter ID trial is set to begin Sept.
26th in Raleigh. Superior Court Judge Mike Morgan, after considering
arguments from the state legislature to dismiss the case, or assign it
elsewhere, announced his decision earlier this week. The issue in the state
case is whether requiring North Carolina voters to show photo identification is
an additional requirement not listed in the stare’s Constitution. If not,
opponents say, it should be disallowed.

WAKE ELECTIONS BOARD
STILL FIGURING OUT HOW TO HOLD SCHOOL BOARD, COMMISSION ELECTIONS

The Wake
Board of Elections has to have an answer soon for the US Fourth Circuit of
Appeals on how it will conduct new elections this fall for the local school board
and county commissioners, but unless either state lawmakers reconvene to redraw
the district maps, or the federal appellate court rehears the case, there’s not
much that can b e done. The Fourth Circuit recently ruled that new voting
district maps drawn by the Republican-led state legislature were unconstitutional,
none of the school board or county commission elections could go forward this
November unless changes are made.